In one of the pointer illumination structures of this type which have been conventionally known, a shaft of a pointer body is rotatably supported by a housing which contains an output gear to be integrally rotated with the shaft at a lower side of the shaft, and a stepping motor positioned adjacent to the output gear, and so on (refer to Patent literature 1). Specifically, the housing is composed of two upper and lower parts, which have openings respectively. Bearings (elements to be contacted with the openings) which are formed at upper and lower sides of the output gear are respectively engaged with the two openings. Inside the housing, a pinion gear at a motor shaft side of the stepping motor is meshed with the output gear at a side of the shaft of the pointer body. When the motor shaft rotates, the rotation is transmitted to the pointer (a part of the pointer body on the dial plate) by way of the pinion gear and the output gear.
Moreover, a light source on a printed board is disposed below the opening of the lower housing so as to irradiate the light to the output gear, and the output gear positioned at the lower side of the shaft of the pointer body is formed of a transparent material. The light irradiated from the light source passes the output gear and the shaft of the pointer body, and is reflected by a reflection face at an upper end side of the shaft inside the pointer body thereby to illuminate the pointer above the dial plate.